Knitted fabric and method of making the same



l E. ST. PIERRE 2,131,720

KNITTED FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Fil'ed Aug. 15, 1938 2Sheets-Sheet l F161. l8 2o 22 23 a4 25 26. 2s 3o v JJYYEIVME.

EzIcE/YEIZHHQPE 32 f vgfigf Sept. 27, 1938. E. s1'. PIERRE 2,131,720

KNITTED FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Aug. 15, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 12111 51117013 i'nww-JkPm-Z M' ZW Patented Sept. 27, 1938 IUNITED-STATES PAT NT OFFICE KNITTED. FABRIC AND'METHO-D OF MAKING THEEugene St. Pierre, Pawtucket, R. 1., assignor to, Hemphill Company,Central Falls, R. -I., a corporation of Massachusetts Application August15, 1938, Serial No. 224,873

8 Claims. 66-172) This invention relates to a knitted fabric and otherwords, the rib effect is not due to the drawmethod of making the sameand more particularly ing together of the spacedintermediate wales by toknitted fabrics having an elastic thread or the-elastic thread, the samebeing knitted under threads incorporated: therewith in combination verylight tension, that is, underwhat is commonly with ornamental threadscommonly known as known as knitting tension similar to that disclosedwrap threads. While the wrap threads may be in the Sturgess BritishPatent #4418 of 1886. incorporated in a manner similar to that shown inThe relatively inelastic, cotton thread 3| is Taubel Patent #1,619,'l88,March 1, 1927, they are knitted by all theneedles at the main feedingstaherein shown as incorporated in a knitted fabric tion M while theelastic thread 32 is fed to and- ]0 in a manner similar to that shown inLawson Patknitted by the alternate needles at the auxiliary ent#1,'702,608, February 19, 1929. feeding station A. Knitting cams (notshown) In the drawings: act upon all of the needles in the usual or anyde- Fig. 1 is a view showing the outer face of the sired manner at themain feeding station while fabric and including a few wales and coursesof alternate needles only are actuated by cams (not the fabric; shown)at the auxiliary feeding station A, the 15 Fig. 2 is a view similar toFig. 1 but showing the intermediate needles passing-beneath the elasticfabric distorted somewhat by reason of an elastic thread 32 as indicatedin Fig- To Select e thread; needles preparatory to knitting at theauxiliary Fig. 3 is a view showing the movements of the feeding stationA, jacks may be provided which needles to engage the main thread, theelastic jacks are controlled to elevate needles that knit 20 thread andone or more wrap threads; alternate wales 18, 20, etc., only, just priorto the Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view supplementsaid needlesreaching the cams at feeding station ing A. Other jacks which mayinclude some of the Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing theposimentioned jacks, act upon needles selectively to tion the elasticthread takes with respect to the elevate them to a position to bewrappedby the 25 needles as the said needles pass the auxiliary feedwrapthread, such as 35, which thread or threads ing station; and is or arefed to the needles by means of the wrap- Fig. 6 is a conventional viewof a stocking show- D mechanism which y be identical With ing-a seriesof patterns similar to'the one disclosed or similar to the wrapmechanism illustrated in in i 1. the Lawson Patent #1,702,608, February19, 1929, 30

Referring particularly to Fig; 1, courses 1 to 17 noting partic y thedisc 1 l1 a associated are shown, said courses including wales 18 to-30.Darts Shown in t Sa d P Between the The base fabric is knitted with oneor more in-' auxiliary f i tat n A and t wrap mechaelastic threads 3|,fed through a guide 3|, and nism 39, a cam relowers the alternateneedles which may hereinafter, for convenience, be rethat were elevatedto knit the elastic thread 32,. 35

ferred to as being of cotton and an elastic thread such relowering beiindicated y hein lin 32 which may be of uncovered or covered rubber p h0f theneedles after y pass the guide M such as is commonly known asLastex. In alterwhich feeds thread 32. The elastic thread is fed natewales 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30, etc., the to the needles through avertically disposed guide 40 elastic thread 32 isshown as knitted byalternate -W pa between the needles and the latch 40 needles 33 only.The cotton thread 3! is knitted ring (notshown). The guide 4| may besupby the said alternate needles 33 as well as the ported in anyconvenient manner and, preferably, intermediate needles 34 whichknit-the intermedion the latch ring. ate wales 19, 21, 23, 25, 27,29,etc. It is desirable that the elastic thread 32 be fed By knitting theelastic thread 32 with the alterintojthe hooks of alternate needles withas little '45 nate needles 33, the intermediate wales 19, 21, tension aspossible consistent with the knitting of etc.,are forced to the outerface of the fabric, uniform fabric. The tension imposed upon the some ofthe said wales, as well as. some of the elasticfis what may be termed, alight, knitting alternate wales 18, 20, etc., being wrapped withtension. The 'close' feeding ofthe elastic thread one or more wrapthreads 35. The rib efiect pro- 32 by the guide 4| making it unnecessaryto im'- 50 duced by the forcing of the intermediate wales to pose anyconsiderable tension upon the elastic the outer face of the fabric, isdue primarily to the thread 32in order to cause the same to be fed intoelastic thread or strand 32 being between a loop of the hooks ofalternate needles 33 and above the the cotton or other thread, e. g.,the 1621p 36, Fig. 2, intermediate needles 34 so that upon elevation ofand adjacent loops, e. g., 31 and 38, Fig. 2. In 1 the latter they shallpass forward of the elastic 55 thread. The lack of any substantialtension upon the elastic thread 32 causes the same to remain more orless in contact with the hooks of the needles which do not knit the saidelastic thread, as indicated in Fig. 5.

Fabric, as shown in the drawings and knitted as previously described, isessentially a two-feed fabric, alternate courses 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, etc.,being knitted with the cotton or other relatively inelastic thread 3|with all the needles, while the intermediate courses 2, 4, 6, 8, 10,etc., are knitted by alternate needles only engaging and knitting theelastic thread 32 only.

The lack of substantial tension on the elastic thread serves a usefulpurpose in that itpermits the wrapping of consecutive needles of a groupas distinguished from every other needle only which is necessary inorder to obtain a satisfactory fabric when imposing substantial tensionon an elastic thread. However, any desired selection of needles may beutilized for wrap selection; in other words, any of the needles can beelevated to knit a wrap thread such as 35.

When knitting the base fabric only, i. e., without wrap threads,the'needl'es move along until elevated by the usual raise cam in advanceof the guides, such as 3|, the effect of the raise cam being indicatedby that portion of the dot and dash line, Fig. 3, inclined upwardly andindicated at 42. Subsequently to passing the guide 3|, all of theneedles move downwardly to the position 43 and knit the yarn 3|;thereafter to the latch clearing position 44 then being moved down tomove along the level 45, the cycle thereafter being repeated beginningwith selection for the elastic thread 32.

When knitting pattern fabric as by means of a wrap thread or threads 35,jacks' (not shown) selectively elevate needles as indicated at 46, saidneedles then moving along the horizontal path 41 where they receive awrap thread or threads in their hooks, as indicated in Fig. 3.Thereafter the needles are depressed to join the non-wrap needles, thewrap needles then knitting the cotton or other relatively inelasticthread 3| in g the same manner as the non-wrap needles.

The wales 24, 26, etc. comprise loops of'cotton or other relativelyinelastic yarn 3| and elastic yarn 32, whereas the wales 25, 27, 29,etc., are knitted of the cotton or other yarn 3| in every course, theelastic yarn 32 passing back of the said wales which constitute the facewales of the fabric. In the wrap areas, Fig. 1, wales, such as and 22,are alternately knit with the elastic yarn 32 and then with both thecotton or other yarn 3| and the wrap thread in other words. the elasticthread in said wales 20 and 22, is drawn through two loops while the twoloops of the yarn 3| and thread 35 are drawn through single loops of theelastic thread 32.

When starting the, knitting, a selvage maybe knitted by first causingthe elastic thread to-be fed to every other needle in the mannerhereinbefore described for one or two courses, the cotton or other yarnthen being fed to and kn tted by all the needles in the usual manner. Inknitting the selvage as just described, the guide 3| is not moved tofeeding position until all the alternate needleshave engaged the yarn intheir hooks or? until said alternate needles have caught the yarn fortwo courses of knitting thus knitting the said elastic yarn during thesecond course.

The stocking 43 diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 6, may include arib' top 49, the rib effect of which is produced by knitting the basefabric in the manner hereinbefore described. Within the base fabric,wrap or other design areas may be incorporated, one form of suchpatterning being illustrated in Fig. 1. Subsequent to the knitting ofthe rib top 49, the remaining portion of the stocking may be knitted inany desired manner. The rib stitches may extend into the leg, foot andother portions of the stocking, if desired.

The invention is preferably practiced upon a circular independent needlemachine as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. In operation, the circularknitting machine effects the knitting of what is commonly known as aseamless fabric, such as a stocking.

As hereinbefore described, the elastic thread 32 is, preferably, knittedby the alternate needles, but the elastic knitted thread may be fed tothe alternate needles in such a manner as not to be knitted, one exampleof such feeding being disclosed in the Sturgess British Patent #4418 of1886. Furthermore, regardless of whether the elastic thread is knittedor inlaid as disclosed in the Sturgess patent, a separate or relativelyinelastic thread may be knitted by alternate or all of the needles atthe auxiliary feeding station, in addition to the inelastic thread 3|which is knitted by all the needles at the main feeding station.

The elastic thread 32 is knitted, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 6, ina sumcient number of courses to give to the fabric the rib appearancenormally resulting from the knitting of fabric upon two sets of opposedneedles, notwithstanding the fact that the stocking is knitted plain, i.e., with one set of needles only. As specifically herein disclosed, theelastic is knitted throughout the top 49 of the stocking as illustratedin Figure 6.

The terms employed in the foregoing description are used solely for thepurpose of clearly describing the knitted fabric and method of knitting,without the intention of limiting the invention to the precise methodsof knitting and details -of construction disclosed. As an example,

courses, as the elastic and inelastic courses may alternate in otherthan in a one and one relation, e. g., one and two, two and one, and twoand two.

Ashereinbefore described, the elastic thread 32 is fed to the needlesunder a light tension, said tension being suflicient to effect theproper placing or the said elastic thread with respect to the needles inthe manner illustrated in Fig. 5. In other words, the amount of tensionimposed upon the said elastic thread 32 is substantially the same as theamount of tension imposed upon the elastic thread as disclosed in theSturgess British Patent Although the description and some of the claimsrefer to the knitting of the thread 3| by "alP the needles, ornamentalor other effects may be produced by occasionally omitting the knittingby some of the needles.

I'claimz 1. A plain knitted, seamless stocking fabric comprising walesand courses, a relatively inelastic'yarn alone knitted in alternatecourses only and a relatively elastic yarn knitted in intermediatecourses only, the relatively inelastic yarn being knitted at all of thewales in the said alternate courses and the said elastic yarn beingknitted at alternate wales only in the said intermediate courses, thesaid elastic yarn being knitted undera light tension and in a suflicientnumber of courses to cause the intermediate wales to appear as rib waleson the outer face of the fabric.

2. A knitted fabric comprising wales and courses, a relatively inelasticyarn alone knitted in alternate courses only and a relatively elasticyarn knitted in intermediate courses only, the relatively inelastic yarnbeing knitted at all of the wales in the said alternate courses and thesaid elastic yarn being knitted at alternate wales only in the saidintermediate courses, and a wrap thread knitted in some of the coursesat some of v the wales, the said elastic yarn causing the intermediatewales to appear as rib wales on the outer face of the fabric.

3. A method of knitting including feeding a relatively inelastic yarn toall the needles at one feeding station, and feeding a relatively elasticthread to alternate needles only at a second feeding station, knittingthe yarns separately at their respective feeding stations while imposinga light knitting tension upon the elastic yarn, and wrapping some of theneedles with an additional thread.

4. A method of knitting a stocking top on a circular knitting machineand including knitting a relatively inelastic thread at 'one feedingstation and knitting a relatively elastic thread at prising, thr ughoutthe greater portion thereof,-

alternating courses of elastic'and inelastic yarns, said inelastic yarnbeing knitted at every wale and said elastic yarn being knitted atalternate wales only and floated across intervening wales, said elasticyarn being knitted under light tension and producing a. rib effect.

6. A method of knitting a seamless stocking top with one set ofindependent needles, said method including feeding a relativelyinelastic yarn to all the needles in alternatecourses and causing thesaid needles to knit the said yarn, and feedingan elastic yarn only toalternate needles, the said alternate needles knitting the said elasticyarn to constitute courses intervening between the first mentionedcourses, and imposing a light tension upon the elastic yarn, all for thepurpose of causing alternate wales to appear as face wales in theknitted fabric.

'1. A seamless plain knitted stocking top comprising, throughout thegreater portion thereof, alternating courses of elastic and inelasticyarns, said inelastic yarn being knitted at every wale and said elasticyarn being knitted at alternate wales only and floated acrossinterveningwales, said elastic yarn being knitted under light ten- ,sion andproducing a rib effect, one or more warp threads being knitted at someof the wales in some of the courses.

8. A method of knitting a seamless stocking top with one set ofindependent needles, said method including feeding a relativelyinelastic yarn to all the needles in alternate-courses and causing thesaid needles to knit the said yarn, and feeding an elastic yarn only toalternate needles, the said alternate needles knittingthe said elasticyarn to constitute courses intervening between the first mentionedcourses, imposing a light tension upon the elastic yarn, all ,for thepurpose of causing alternate wales to appear as' face wales in theknitted fabric, and wrapping some of the needles during the knitting ofsome,

at least, of the courses with one or more threads.

' EUGENE ST. PIERRE.

